As well as providing a valuable picture of Europe’s building stock


– this was one of the biggest surveys of this type ever undertaken and the results are available for further energy projects – the study was conducted so iNSPiRe could identify target buildings that would benefit most from retrofitting and so develop appropriate solutions that would deliver the greatest energy impacts.


PEEB: What were the stand-out results of the iNSPiRe research? Do we now have a clear picture of the make-up of Europe’s building stock? SB: The concentration of both residential and office space in the ‘big six’ countries of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom means that from an EU-wide perspective it will make most sense to identify building retrofit solutions that suit these countries first and foremost. These six countries account for 72


per cent of residential and 71 per cent of office floor area. Across the EU-27, single family houses represent the majority of the heated floor area at 60 per cent. This means that although single family houses tend to have a larger floor area than MFH dwellings, MFHs still constitute around 50 per cent of dwellings and therefore 50 per cent of households. To be effective across


the whole


The data used in this project was obtained from a literature survey


covering previous research projects, energy agencies, census outputs and databases. The availability of detailed data, particularly for the office building


stock was often limited and some assumption had to be made creating some uncertainties about the accuracy of the data presented. A novel approach using simulation has helped to fill in the gaps in literature to provide energy related data for the climatic regions, types and ages of dwellings across Europe.


“To be effective across the whole residential


PEEB: What further research is needed to ensure Europe meets its ambitious energy targets? SB: There is a great deal of technology available in the market place and being developed by projects like iNSPiRe that is proven to deliver considerable energy savings when fitted to older buildings. What is needed now is concerted effort to develop the mechanisms by which retrofit will be implemented. This will involve all stakeholders, from building


residential stock, retrofit solutions need to be designed to accommodate both single and multi-family houses. In particular, SFHs represent more than 60 per cent of residential floor area in the three countries with the highest populations (Germany, United Kingdom and France), and more than 50 per cent of floor area in Poland. Only in Spain and Italy are SFHs less than 40 per cent of floor area. Total heating energy consumption across residential and office


sectors is 2299TWh/year and 159 TWh/year respectively, giving a ratio of 14:1. This underlines the importance of the residential sector in energy-reduction retrofit. However, the variability of the buildings in the residential sector


means that this segment of the market is also harder to treat with standardised solutions.


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stock, retrofit solutions need to be designed to accommodate both single and


multi-family houses”


owners, who will need to understand the benefits of making the investment to retrofit, to the construction industry, who will need to be made aware of what technology is available that will help them deliver better services to their customers. It is important, too, that policy makers, local


governments and city planners develop the incentives to ensure widespread uptake of new solutions as well as promote the use of these solutions in publically owned and managed buildings. Finally, further work will be needed to deliver optimal integration of solutions so that the whole


retrofit is considered holistically, meaning all aspects of energy use are considered as a whole and maximum savings can be made in one go.


PEEB: How will BSRIA play a role in promoting renovation and the type of holistic retrofitting practices developed by projects like iNSPiRe in the future? SB: BSRIA will continue to use its networks and events to promote technologies and practices that fit the UK environment from both EU and UK sources.


they are applicable to the clients requirements.★ It will advise clients of these practices where 17


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